Posted on 07/08/2009 5:44:18 PM PDT by Kaslin
Health Care: Having been on the receiving end of a letter-writing campaign, we are acutely aware that many are concerned about the plight of the uninsured. Too bad they're not similarly aware of the facts.
The debate over the uninsured generates a lot of heat. That's why more than 50 letters supporting the White House's public option plan were e-mailed to us over an 18-hour period beginning Tuesday afternoon.
What's missing is some light, which is exactly what economists David and June O'Neill provide in a recent report prepared for the Employment Policies Institute.
The O'Neills classified the uninsured in two categories: the "involuntarily" uninsured, made up of those "likely unable to afford" coverage; and the "voluntarily" uninsured, 18- to 64-year-olds who have incomes at or above 2.5 times the poverty line and "likely have the means to obtain health care coverage."
At least 43% of the 46 million, the O'Neills say, belong to the voluntarily uninsured group.
That leaves 27 million Americans who aren't covered because they ostensibly cannot afford it.
There's much more to the story, though. The O'Neills found that:
• One-third of those who are involuntarily uninsured are high school dropouts; only 7% of the privately insured didn't graduate.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
ping.
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